Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Showing FTIsland's rising popularity in China, the band's lead singer Lee Hongki drew in around 2,000 fans during a meet-and-greet held last Saturday in a department store in the Chinese district of Huangzhou, reports The Korea Herald.

What was meant to be a small meeting with around 50 fans escalated into a 2,000-person mob all wanting to get a glimpse of Lee Hongki.

So many FTIsland fans trooped to the department store that all nine of its floors were packed with people.

The most dedicated fans even followed Lee Hongki to his next fan meeting in Wenzhou, which was four hours away by car.

The Wenzhou meet-and-greet, for its part, proved eventful after some of the fans fainted. It was not made clear whether the fans lost consciousness because of traveling from Huangzhou or because of excitement seeing Lee Hongki.

The Chinese fan commotion follows FTIsland's successful new song release. The band's "Puppy" track, which has also been dropped in Korea and Japan, managed to climb to the top of the Chinese music chart YinYueTa, notes The Korea Herald.

The fact that "Puppy" has been charting well on China is positive news amid claims by Lee Hongki that their label FNC Entertainment has not done enough to promote the song. In his frustration, the lead singer has called the agency "dirty and cheap."